Dallas is located on the rolling prairies of northeast Texas, where the three branches of the Trinity River merge. It is the second-largest city in Texas and the eighth-largest city in the United States.

Founded in 1841 by John Neely Bryan, who chose the site along the river for his trading post, Dallas grew slowly at first. However, significant expansion occurred during the Civil War years (1861–65), when Dallas was used as a supply depot for Confederate troops. In 1872 the Texas Central Railroad was routed through town, and a year later the Texas Pacific Railroad arrived.

The 1930 oil strike in east Texas caused a boom in the Dallas economy, with the city becoming a financial and freight center serving the oil wells. Dallas entered the twenty-first century a center for banking, oil, cotton, and high technology, as well as a rapidly expanding city, both in terms of population and economy.

Highways

Several major highways lead into Dallas. Interstate-20 runs east to west. I-30
runs from the northeast into the city. Running northeast to southwest is I-35, the major route from Dallas to Austin and San Antonio. I-45 runs from Dallas southeast to Houston. US 75 (North Central Expressway) comes into Dallas from the North. I-635 forms a loop around Dallas and the neighboring cities of Arlington and Fort Worth. Driving time to Houston is three hours and 40 minutes, while it takes four-anda-half hours to drive to San Antonio.

Bus and Railroad Service

Both buses and passenger trains serve Dallas. The Greyhound bus station is located downtown at 205 S. Lamar Street, and in addition to Greyhound, several other smaller bus lines run out of this location, including El Conejo and Euro-Coach. Trains arrive at Amtrak's Union Station, 400 S. Houston Street.

Airports

Dallas has two airports: Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport (DFW) and the smaller Love Field, which offers commuter transit. DFW is located 29 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of downtown. Transportation to and from the airport is available by bus, airport shuttle, rental car, or taxi. Most major domestic airlines fly into Dallas, including American, Continental, Delta, and TWA. Regional airlines include America West, Atlantic Southeast, Southwest, and Sun Country. Several international airlines also service Dallas, such as Aeromexico, British Airways, Japan Airlines, and Korean Air. Flight times from major U.S. cities are as follows: New York, four hours; Chicago, two-and-a-half hours; Los Angeles, three hours.

Metropolitan Area

Population: 3,912,000Description: Includes Dallas and suburbs (the area known as DFW Metroplex also includes Forth Worth, Arlington, and suburbs)Area: 16,800 sq km (6,490 sq mi)World population rank1: 62Percentage of national population2: 1.4%Average yearly growth rate: 1.6%

———

The Dallas metropolitan area's rank among the world's urban areas.

The percent of the total US population living in the Dallas metropolitan area.

Major highways converge in the center of the city, just east of the Trinity River, forming a loose, lopsided rectangle. Due to rapid expansion in the latter half of the twentieth century, roads sprawl haphazardly in many directions, making it difficult to tell Dallas proper from surrounding suburbs and cities.

Streets do not form a traditional grid, making travel confusing. The main roads downtown are Main Street, Elm Street, and Commerce Street.

Buses and Commuter Rail Service

Dallas Area Rapid Transit System (DART) offers bus and light rail transportation to the city and 12 surrounding suburban communities. DART provides 130 bus routes, while the light rail services major sites, with free parking at most rail terminals. A trolley line circulates downtown. Fares for DART range from 50 cents to two dollars.

Walking

Because of urban and suburban sprawl, Dallas is not a city well suited for pedestrians. However, tourists can and do take walking tours downtown and in the historic West End. In most other areas, people either drive or take public transportation.

2The maximum amount the U.S. Government reimburses its employees for business travel. The lodging portion of the allowance is based on the cost for a single room at a moderately-priced hotel. The meal portion is based on the costs of an average breakfast, lunch, and dinner including taxes, service charges, and customary tips. Incidental travel expenses include such things as laundry and dry cleaning.

3David Maddux, ed. Editor&Publisher International Year Book. New York: The Editor&Publisher Company, 1999.

Prior to the Civil War, Dallas' peak population was only 430 people. However, by 1990 it was the second-largest city in Texas and the eighth-largest city in the United States. Estimates for 1999 put the population at 1,068,800, while
the total population of the Dallas-Fort Worth region is estimated at just under five million.

In 1997 whites were the ethnic majority at 65 percent. Those of Hispanic descent made up 17 percent of the population, while African Americans accounted for 14 percent. The remaining population is made up of Native Americans and a growing number of immigrants from Asia and Europe.

A sprawling megalopolis, Dallas is often lumped together with neighboring Fort Worth and Arlington, the entire area called the DFW Metroplex by residents. These three separate cities blend seamlessly together and, along with several suburbs, form one large metropolis.

Each neighborhood in Dallas has its own flavor. The West End Historic District is a preservation area, with buildings from the early 1900s transformed into retail spaces. Another historic area is the Swiss Avenue District, where over 200 houses have been preserved, the houses representing Georgian, Prairie, and Spanish architectural styles. The Dallas downtown area combines historic buildings with a modern skyline. The downtown skyline is a cluster of buildings designed by some of the twentieth century's most prominent architects, such as I. M. Pei (b. 1917) and Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959). Architect William D. Cook came up with the layout plans for the upscale suburb of Highland Park, which is located just north of downtown. One of the most popular and upscale neighborhoods in Dallas is the newly renovated warehouse district of Deep Ellum, which was the center of the city's African American population for much of the twentieth century. Only three blocks from downtown, this neighborhood represents a shift in Dallas' city expansion, with suburban growth slowing and more people moving back into the central city.

Dallas, along with its surrounding communities, is home to 45 colleges and universities. Neighborhoods catering to students surround Southern Methodist University, located directly north of Highland Park, and the University of Texas at Dallas, at the north-ernmost edge of the city.

In 1841 John Neely Bryan settled at a site where the Trinity River's three branches merged. Bryan noticed that the river's main branch was narrower at this point than at any other place for miles, making it an ideal place for a trading post.

By 1842 a few more settlers arrived and Bryan's encampment was called Peter's Colony. In 1845 the name was changed to honor U.S. Vice President George Mifflin Dallas (1792–1864). Dallas was incorporated as a town in 1856 and as a city in 1871.

The settlement grew slowly until the Civil War, when it served as a supply
depot for Confederate troops. In 1872 the Texas Central Railroad was lured to Dallas through bribes and land gifts. The following year, the Texas Pacific Railroad was routed into town, making Dallas the major distribution center of the southwest. Cotton, wheat, and wool all came into Dallas to be exported by rail. Between 1872 and 1886 the population expanded from 6,000 to 36,000.

Cotton growing in north Texas made Dallas one of the world's largest inland cotton markets, and by 1900 Dallas had become the regional financial center servicing Texas' cotton farmers.

The next boom for Dallas came in 1930 with the east Texas oil strike. The city's financial institutions began servicing the region's oil magnates, and many of Dallas' citizens became rich off of petroleum-related enterprises. The 1930s also made outlaw robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker an infamous part of Dallas' history. Both lived in the city as children, and they were working in Dallas in January of 1930 when they met. After several of their escapades, Bonnie and Clyde were nearly captured in Dallas in 1933. They were ambushed by Dallas police but escaped with only minor injuries.

A fire and flooding both influenced the city's development. In 1860 a fire destroyed much of the downtown business district. By 1908 frequent flooding of the Trinity River forced city leaders to consider redesigning the city. Planning engineer George Kessler developed a
city plan that included widening the Trinity River, moving railroad tracks outside of the city, and widening city streets. At the time, these plans were considered radical; however, Kessler's ideas were slowly carried out over many years.

Perhaps Dallas will always best be known for one dark moment in American history. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy (president 1961–63; 1917–1963) was assassinated as his motorcade passed by Dealy Plaza in downtown Dallas. Riding in an open limousine, President Kennedy was shot twice, once in the head and once in the neck. He was pronounced dead upon arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Texas Governor Connally, riding with Kennedy, was also shot, though not fatally. After the shots, a reporter looked up at surrounding buildings and saw a rifle being drawn back into a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the killing. Oswald himself was shot only two days later in the basement of a Dallas police station by Jack Ruby. A presidential commission headed by Earl Warren, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, ruled that Oswald acted alone and was not part of a conspiracy, as many believed. Skeptics dispute the Warren Report, though conclusive evidence has yet to be uncovered implicating anyone other than Oswald. The controversy and mystique surrounding the Kennedy assassination draw many tourists to both Dealy Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. Dedicated in June 1970, the John F. Kennedy Memorial, designed as a place for remembrance and meditation, is located at the corner of Main and Market Streets.

Dallas' image was tarnished by the Kennedy assassination, and the city worked hard to rebuild its reputation. In 1973 the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport opened, and in 1984 Dallas hosted the Republican National Convention. From 1980 to 1982 the television drama Dallas was the top-rated series in the United States.

In 1998 the city suffered through a severe drought and heat wave. Temperatures of at least 56°C (100°F) held for 29 consecutive days, causing widespread crop damage and more than 100 deaths.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Dallas is still a center for traditional businesses, including the cotton and petroleum industries. It is also a center for women's fashions, and it is a regional hub for financial and insurance institutions. High-tech industry has been growing in Dallas and is projected to be a major growth industry in coming years.

In 1931 Dallas adopted a city council-city manager style of government. The city is run by a city manager who is appointed by an elected mayor and an elected city council. The city manager is not a politician and is charged with the responsibility of handling administrative matters for the city. The mayor is
elected to a four-year term, while the ten city council members are elected for two-year terms. The mayor may serve two terms, and the council members may serve four terms.

As of 1997, the city of Dallas had 2,872 uniformed police officers working out of six full-service police stations. Fifty-five fire stations and 1,544 fire-fighters served the city as well.

In 1998 the crime rate in Dallas was significantly above the national average. The property crime rate was 5,470 per 100,000 people, and the violent crime rate was 717.6 per 100,000. According to a 1999 Money magazine survey of 300 major cities, Dallas ranked at numbers 222 and 221 respectively in these two crime categories.

In 1999 the Dallas economy was especially strong, in keeping with a robust U.S. economy. The unemployment rate was a low three percent, and job growth from 1998 to 1999 stood at 3.8 percent, well above the national average. The Dallas economy is projected to grow nearly 20 percent by the year 2010.

Dallas is a regional financial center, serving the American southwest. As such, it is home to the Eleventh District Federal Reserve Bank. Although the Texas oil boom slowed in the latter half of the twentieth century, The city continues to serve as a corporate center for petroleum companies. Dallas is home to more petroleum company headquarters than any other city. Dallas is a major international cotton market, and the city has more than 250 insurance company headquarters.

About 20 percent of Dallas area workers are employed in manufacturing industries. Twenty percent work in the service sector, while close to 30 percent work in retail.

After World War II (1939–45), Dallas became one of the country's largest manufacturers of aircraft and missile parts. In the 1950s, Texas Instruments, the company that created the integrated circuit computer chip and the hand-held calculator, pioneered Dallas' high-tech movement, a trend that continues into the twenty-first century.

Situated on the rolling prairies of northeast Texas, along the Trinity River, the altitude of Dallas ranges from 137 to 229 meters (450 to 750 feet) above sea level. Historically, the Dallas area has been plagued by floods and drought due to its location in a region between lush and rainy Louisiana and the desert of west Texas; wet and dry years often alternate. Though droughts have hit the city as recently as 1998, city officials combated the flood problem early in the twentieth century by straightening and widening the channel of the Trinity River.

The Trinity River, as many highly trafficked bodies of waters, was polluted
for much of the twentieth century, though clean-up efforts and a lessening of water-borne shipping have improved the river's water quality. In 1998 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the Dallas watershed a high rating, well above the national average; however, the air quality was not as good, ranking below the national average.

In September 1995, the EPA made Dallas a pilot city for its Brownfields National Partnership grant program. (Brownfields are abandoned and contaminated industrial sites.) The program allotted nearly $53 million towards the cleanup and redevelopment of blighted areas in Dallas.

Dallas has a Sunbelt climate, with hot summers and mild winters. Average highs in July are close to 53°C (96°F), while average lows in January only dip to 19°C (34°F). It rarely snows in Dallas. Annual average rainfall is 81 centimeters (32 inches). Dallas' Sunbelt climate offers an average of 237 sunny days per year.

Dallas is said to have more per capita retail space that any other city in America, and its 630 shopping centers lend credence to this claim. The city's most popular store is the downtown Neiman-Marcus on Main Street. The Dallas Galleria is a major shopping mall, with more than 160 stores and an ice skating rink.

In the West End, a cracker factory has been converted into the West End
Marketplace, a collection of specialty shops. To the north of the West End is the Quadrangle, a cluster of upscale shops. Art galleries and antique shops are concentrated on Coit Road. The Farmers Market is located at 1010 South Pearl Street.

The city is probably best known for its cotton products, especially women's clothing. Cotton dresses can be purchased at bargain prices in area stores. Dallas is becoming a high-tech center,
and the Infomart complex has offices and showrooms for many high-tech information companies.

There are 40 public school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and more than 250 private and parochial schools in the area. The Dallas Independent School District is the tenth-largest school district in the United States, with 220 schools and 157,000 students. The Dallas Independent School District has ten magnet high schools, two secondary special education schools, and five secondary alternative schools.

Until the 1880s Dallas schools were private. In 1877 Dallas voters turned down a proposal to levy taxes to form a public school system. It wasn't until 1881 that the tax levy was passed, and in 1884 the first Dallas public schools opened.

Dallas and its nearby communities are home to 45 colleges and universities, which attract more than 250,000 students to the area each year. Public universities in the Dallas area include the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Texas Women's University. Private colleges and universities include the Dallas Baptist College, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, and Texas Wesleyan University.

Dallas has a large community college enrollment. The Dallas County Community College District consists of seven colleges located throughout Dallas County. These community colleges enroll nearly 100,000 students each semester.

There are 37 general hospitals in Dallas, the major hospitals being Baylor University Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center, and St. Paul Medical Center.

Other health services include the Dallas Homeless Outreach Medical Services, which offers mobile medical care to the underprivileged and homeless, and the Parkland Health and Hospital System, which provides a network of neighborhood-based health centers. LocalSource Dallas (www.localsource.com) offers free referrals to area doctors.

Dallas residents interested in alternatives to Western medicine have access to acupuncturists, holistic healers, and message therapists.

The Dallas Morning News is the city's daily general newspaper. The Dallas Observer and the Dallas Times are weekly papers covering news, features, and entertainment. The Daily Commercial Record covers legal and business news, while the Dallas Business Journal provides business coverage.

Dallas has six professional sports teams, including baseball's Texas Rangers who play in Arlington. The city's professional football team, the Cowboys, have won five Super Bowl titles. Dallas' professional hockey team, the Stars, won the Stanley Cup in the 1998–1999 season. Also playing are the Mavericks, a professional basketball team, and two pro soccer teams, the Burn, an outdoor team, and the Sidekicks, an indoor team. The Mesquite Championship Rodeo has weekly competitions from April through September. Dallas hosts college football's Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day.

Dallas has 336 parks, with parkland covering over 50,000 acres. Dallas residents
have access to 50 reservoirs and lakes for fishing, swimming, sailing, and boating. White Rock Lake is Dallas' version of New York's Central Park. White Rock, in the center of the city, is a favorite for jogging, biking, fishing, and sailing. Dallas has over 805 kilometers (500 miles) of bike trails in parks and bike lanes along city streets. Many city parks also have public golf courses. Other participant sports offered in the city include horseback riding, ice-skating, swimming, sailing, and tennis.

Six Flags Over Texas is one of the country's oldest and biggest amusement parks. Located just west of Dallas in Arlington, only a 20-minute drive from downtown Dallas, Six Flags has more than 100 rides, shows, and attractions and is home to Mr. Freeze, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Texas (as of 1999).

Dallas is home to several performing arts organizations. Plays are staged at the Dallas Theater Center, housed in a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Two symphonies perform regularly, the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra and the celebrated Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which performs downtown in Mortin H. Meyerson Hall. Dallas also has a ballet, several summer musical festivals, an African-American dance theater, a Shakespeare festival, and several community theater groups.

The Deep Ellum neighborhood, a renovated warehouse district just east of downtown, has long been Dallas' unofficial music center. In the early 1900s, Deep Ellum was the center of the city's African-American community, and in the 1920s and 1930s famous blues musicians often played in area clubs. Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson both performed in many of Deep Ellum's clubs. In the 1990s, Deep Ellum attracted bands that performed a variety of musical styles, including rock, jazz, alternative, Latin, and country.

Dallas has 23 city libraries housing over seven million volumes of books. The main branch of the library is the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library at 1515 Young Street. A good place to learn about Dallas' history is the G. B. Dealy Library. Maintained by the Dallas Historical Society, the G. B. Dealy Library collects materials documenting Dallas' past.

The Dallas Museum of Art displays works ranging from pre-Columbian to contemporary. The Dallas Aquarium houses nearly 400 species of aquatic animals. The Dallas Zoo keeps its animals in areas meant to recreate natural habitats.

The Sixth Floor Museum, the John F. Kennedy Memorial, and the Conspiracy Museum all explore the life of President John F. Kennedy and his eventual assassination in Dallas. The Sixth Floor Museum is in the former Texas School Book Depository, the site from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy.

Hot, muggy summers and cool, rainy winters make spring and fall the best times to visit the city. Dallas has plenty of restaurants—four times more restaurants per capita than New York City. Local cuisines include southwestern, Tex-Mex, and Texas-style steak-houses. Dallas restaurants vary from cheap hole-in-the-wall diners to four-star restaurants, of which Dallas has six. Popular dining locations are Restaurant Row, Uptown, and the West End. Dallas is also considered one of Texas' premiere night spots. Each night, up to 110 musical acts perform around the city. Although the music ranges from jazz and blues to rock and alternative, tourists tend to favor the many country and western bars around the city.

Many fine hotels service downtown Dallas, but when staying downtown, even the more run-of-the-mill motels tend to charge high prices. For more affordable lodging, it is necessary to stay outside of the city limits.

John H. Holliday (d. 1887), better known as "Doc" Holliday, gun-fighter
and gambler, a once-practicing dentist in Dallas.

Blind Lemon Jefferson (1897–1929), blues musician who earned his fame playing in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, the bestselling black blues singer in the United States for three years in the 1920s.

Clyde Barrow (1909–1934) and Bonnie Parker (1911–1934), outlaws.

Harry Hines, millionaire who made his fortune in oil, served as Texas Highway Commission Chairman from 1935 to 1941.

Dallas: Recreation

Sightseeing

Dallas is rich in entertainment opportunities. Whether one's preference runs to culture, sports, nightlife, or family fare, the Metroplex—including Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, the "Mid-Cities," and many suburbs—has plenty to offer. Beginning in downtown Dallas, visitors can see Dallas founder John Neely Bryan's log cabin at Founder's Plaza, wander through the city's historic districts, enjoy a shopping excursion among the shops and stores located in the underground network of downtown office buildings, or seek out merchandise at Neiman-Marcus department store, which maintains a unique fifth-floor museum. Other downtown Dallas attractions include the beautifully restored Majestic Theatre, the chimes in the bell tower, Thanks-Giving Square, the marvelous bronze steers of Pioneer Plaza, the bargains at Farmers Market, the observation deck on top of the 50-story tall Reunion Tower, and the ice rinks at Plaza of the Americas complex and at down-town's West End (open December through March).

Fair Park is a 277-acre entertainment, cultural, and recreational complex located on the site of the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936 and home each year to the State Fair of Texas, the country's largest. Fair Park includes the Cotton Bowl Stadium, a 3,400-seat Music Hall, a 7,200-seat coliseum, a 4,000-seat open-air Band Shell, Starplex Amphitheatre, six major exhibit buildings, livestock facilities, a permanent Midway amusement park, the technologically
advanced TI Founders IMAX Theater, and nine museums including the Museum of Natural History, African American Museum, Texas Hall of State, Dallas Horticulture Center, Dallas Aquarium, The Science Place I and II, and Age of Steam Railroad Museum. Fair Park has the largest collection of art-deco structures in the world. More than seven million people visit Fair Park events each year, with 3.5 million visiting during the State Fair of Texas each fall.

Six Flags over Texas in nearby Arlington is a 205-acre theme park that includes more than 100 rides, shows, concerts, games, and restaurants. Six Flags, themed for the six nations that have governed Texas, is open for special events during the holidays. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, southwest of Dallas, is dedicated to conservation of endangered species. Programs here focus on conservation, management of natural resources, and public education. Most of the animals here are free to roam the 1,500 acres of savannahs and woodlands, offering visitors a rare chance to see and learn about how species live in the wild.

The Dallas Zoo features more than 2,000 animals, including many rare and endangered species. The 25-acre Wilds of Africa exhibit features a mile-long monorail, nature trail, African plaza, gorilla conservation center, and lots of animals in their natural habitats. "Lemur Lookout" features several examples of the endangered, primitive primate in a 4,000-square-foot naturalistic exhibit. The Zoo's Monorail Safari takes visitors on a one-mile tour through the six habitats. The Dallas Nature Center has 4.5 miles of hiking trails and picnic areas amid a variety of native wildflowers. Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden has 66 acres of gardens plus the historic DeGolyer Mansion and features the largest public selection of azaleas in the United States.

Old City Park is a living history museum portraying life in North Texas from 1840-1910. The museum features 38 historic structures, including a working Civil War era farm, a traditional Jewish household, Victorian homes, a school, a church, and commercial buildings. Deep Ellum, a former industrial neighborhood and center of the Dallas jazz scene is home to avant-garde culture in the form of a variety of restaurants, nightclubs, galleries, and shops.

Arts and Culture

The performing arts enjoy a healthy patronage in Dallas. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), acclaimed as one of the world's premier orchestras, presents numerous subscription concerts, pops concerts, youth concerts, and free park concerts. The DSO performs at the magnificent Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei) in the 60-acre downtown Arts District, the largest urban arts district in the country. Classical music is also provided by the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, the Dallas Classic Guitar Society, and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra.

The Kalita Humphreys Theatre, home to the Dallas Theater Center, is the only public theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It houses the city's professional theater company, which offers live drama and conducts a children's theater. The Theater Center has a second performance facility in the downtown Arts District. Dallas Children's Theater offers special fare for youngsters. Others on the Dallas theater scene include Water Tower Theatre, Deep Ellum Opera Theatre, Pocket Sandwich Theatre, Pegasus, Theatre Three, Actors' Theatre of Dallas, Dallas Summer Musicals, the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and Undermain Theatre. Teatro Dallas features plays about Hispanic culture, and the Callier Theatre for the Deaf offers performances throughout the year.

The Dallas Opera, an international company founded in 1957, presents numerous performances each winter and spring in the Music Hall at Fair Park and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Three operettas in English are performed each year by the Lyric Opera. The Music Hall at Fair Park is home of the Dallas Summer Musicals and hosts annual shows during the State Fair each October. The Grapevine Opry and Mesquite Opry are sites for country music performances. One of Dallas' oldest dance troupes, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, is particularly active during Dance for the Planet festivals. Dallas Black Dance Theatre is a contemporary modern dance company that performs a modern, jazz, ethnic, and spiritual works by nationally and internationally known choreographers.

Dallas-area museums and galleries offer a wide range of exhibits and displays. The Dallas Museum of Art has 370,000 square feet of space on an 8.9-acre site in the Arts District. Its collections include works by renowned American and European artists; the Crow Collection of Asian Art features more than 600 paintings, objects, and architectural pieces from China, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia.

The Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park features electric eels, moon jellyfish, and endangered green sea turtles among the 5,000 aquatic animals from around the world. Also at Fair Park, the Dallas Museum of Natural History contains native-habitat displays of animals—including a hall housing tremendous dinosaur fossils—and minerals, birds, and plants, a photographic gallery, and changing exhibits. Other Fair Park museums include: Hall of State, built in 1936 and home to the Dallas Historical Society; The Science Place, featuring science exhibits, a planetarium, and IMAX theater; The Age of Steam Railroad Museum, a collection of railroad locomotives; the African American Museum; Texas Discovery Gardens; and The Women's Museum.

Old City Park in downtown Dallas is an architectural and cultural museum whose authentic restorations trace Texas history from 1840 to 1910. Buildings include a depot, railroad section house, hotel, physician's office, bank, church, school, and various homes. The Biblical Arts Center features early Christian architecture, Biblical and secular art, a 30-minute light-and-sound presentation of the "Miracle at Pentecost" mural, and an atrium gallery that displays a replica of the garden tomb of Christ. The cultures and lifestyles of South American Indians are depicted at the International Museum of Cultures, where exhibits include pottery, habitat displays, and scenes of everyday life. The Sixth Floor Museum at the former Texas School Book Depository chronicles the life and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. The 30-foot-high JFK Memorial downtown commemorates the late president.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is a 54,000-square-foot building and outdoor sculpture garden featuring the art collection of philanthropist and collector Ray Nasher and his late wife, Patsy. Considered by many as one of the foremost private or public collections of twentieth-century sculpture in the world, consists of more than 300 pieces by artists such as Matisse, Picasso, Rodin and others.

The Dallas Firefighters Museum permits visitors to walk through Dallas' oldest in-service fire station, which houses "Old Tige," a turn-of-the-century steam pumper, and a variety of antique fire-fighting equipment. The Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies includes a museum, library, and educational institute. The Dollhouse Museum of the Southwest features displays of international dolls and toys.

Festivals and Holidays

Dallas starts off its year with New Year's celebrations and continues strong throughout the year with numerous festivals featuring art, music, food, fun, and more. The Wild-flower! Arts & Music Festival is held every May and features national, regional, and local entertainment. The Shakespeare Festival is held each summer and features Camp Shakespeare and Festival Workshops for kids. ArtFest is held each year in Fair Park, a celebration of art, food and drink, and good times. Dallas Farmers Market is the scene of seasonal festivals, and the great State Fair of Texas is held each year at Fair Park from late September through mid-October. Additionally, One of the largest wine festivals in the Southwest is Grapefest, held in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

Sports for the Spectator

Dallas sports fans can follow their local favorites at the professional or college level. Since 1972 the Dallas Cowboys professional football team has made its home at Texas Stadium in Irving. The American Airlines Center is home to National Basketball Association's expansion franchise team Dallas Mavericks, as well as the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League (AFL). Also at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars face-off against other National Hockey League teams from September through April. The Texas Rangers play Major League Baseball from April thru October at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Major League Soccer's FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn) play at the Frisco Soccer & Entertainment Center, opened in 2005. The new 115-acre facility features a 20,000-plus-seat soccer stadium.

Real championship cowboys compete at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo at Resistol Arena from April to September in Mesquite, Texas. In May, the TPC at Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas hosts the annual Byron Nelson Golf Classic, one of the major events on the professional golf tour.

College and university sports fans follow the Southern Methodist University Mustang teams and the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. The Cotton Bowl Football Classic each year pits two of the nation's best college teams.

Sports for the Participant

The city of Dallas has more than 21,000 acres of parks and 17 lakes, with nearly 62 miles of jogging and biking paths. Residents and visitors can find almost every kind of recreation in one or more of the municipal facilities. The system's 406 neighborhood, community, and regional parks offer 263 tennis courts, 146 soccer fields, 226 pools, 45 recreation centers, 6 golf courses, and a variety of other fields, shelters, play areas, and recreational facilities.

Sixty lakes and reservoirs lie within a 100-mile radius of Dallas. The largest within the city is Lake Ray Hubbard, with more than 20,000 acres and a public marina. The Dallas Nature Center features 360 acres of preserved wilderness and mesquite prairie, including six miles of hiking trails.

In 2002 and after six years in development, Lake Tawakoni State Park opened 50 miles east of Dallas. The park covers 376 rolling, wooded acres on the shore of a large reservoir and provides a variety of recreational activities, including catfish and bass fishing.

Shopping and Dining

Dallas offers visitors a unique blend of Southwestern warmth, cosmopolitan flair, Old West charm and modern sophistication. One of the wholesale and retail centers of the nation, Dallas has more shopping centers per capita than any major American city. Valley View Center is one of the city's largest shopping centers with more than 175 merchants occupying 1.5 million square feet of space. NorthPark Mall is home to more than 160 stores. The Galleria Dallas features more than 200 stores, including high-end retailers like Tiffany & Co., Gianni Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom and others; the mall also features an ice skating rink inspired by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, Italy. The West End Marketplace downtown has over 30 specialty shops featuring Texas/Dallas memorabilia and unique gifts; shoppers also have their choice from a variety of restaurants and night clubs in the renovated historic district. More than three million antique and bargain hunters visit Traders Village in Grand Prairie, Texas each year. Spread over 120 acres, more than 2,500 dealers set up shop each weekend in the open-air bargain hunters' paradise.

Dallas, with four times more restaurants per person than New York City, can serve up Texas beef or French cuisine, fiery Texas chili, or a variety of ethnic specialties. According to the Texas Restaurant Association, Dallas has more than 7,000 restaurants to enjoy. TexMex fare is supplemented by the ethnic dishes of Greece, Mexico, Germany, Japan, China, Vietnam, India, and Italy at fine restaurants and eateries. Although some restaurants specialize in traditional southern cooking, this fare is mostly served at home in Dallas. Dallas boasts the invention of the frozen margarita, a popular cocktail made of tequila, lime juice, sugar, and salt.

Dallas: Economy

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Dallas boasts a broadly diverse business climate, with technological industries in the lead. Major industries include defense, financial services, information technology and data, life sciences, semiconductors, telecommunications, transportation, and processing. According to the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex holds about 43 percent of the state's high-tech workers. Further, 13 privately-held companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenues are headquartered in the area. Among the 19 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the area are Advance PCS, Dean Foods, ExxonMobil, Kimberly-Clark, Neiman Marcus, Southwest Airlines, and Texas Instruments.

Dubbed the "Silicon Prairie," Dallas is among the country's largest employment centers for high technology. In addition, Dallas is known as a center for telecommunications manufacturing employment in the United States. The Telecom Corridor is an area in Richardson, Texas, north of Dallas. Its nickname is in recognition of the proliferation of telecommunications companies in a small section of the community. The area is a strip about three miles long on Highway 75, north of Interstate 635; Nortel, Ericsson, Alcatel, Southwestern Bell and other telecom companies call the area home.

Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies

Local programs

Tax Increment Finance Districts (TIFs) are designated areas targeted for development, redevelopment, and improvements. Increases in tax revenues from new development and higher real estate values are paid into TIF funds to finance improvements. Public Improvement Districts (PIDs) are created at the request of property owners in the district, who pay a supplemental tax which is used for services beyond existing city services, such as marketing, security, landscaping, and other improvements. There are seven TIFs and five areas designated as PIDs in Dallas.

State programs

State-designated Enterprise Zone Projects may be eligible for state sales or use tax refunds of taxes paid for building materials, machinery and equipment for use in the enterprise zone. Other state sales tax refunds and franchise tax refunds or reductions are available to qualified businesses in state-designated enterprise zones. Classification by the Public Utilities Commission as a qualified business in a state designated enterprise zone may qualify the business for up to a 5 percent reduction on electric utility rate upon negotiation with local electric utility service provider.

Job training programs

The Greater Dallas Chamber promotes economic opportunities for all women through a series of seminars and training sessions. The College for Texans statewide campaign launched in the fall of 2002 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) works to send more Texans to college, training them for the workforce beyond. Through this program, GO Centers, a grassroots network of community-managed college recruiting centers, serve as primary points of coordination between the campaign efforts and local communities. Leadership Dallas is a program that trains business leaders in community responsibility through discussion of issues, consideration of options, and first-hand exploration of the needs and concerns of the Greater Dallas Region.

Development Projects

The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Airport has invested $2.7 billion in its five-year Capital Development Program (CPD), which includes a two million square foot international terminal with an integrated Grand Hyatt Hotel and a high-speed train. Airfield, roadway, and airport infrastructure support projects make up the rest of the program. The development program is expected to generate an estimated $34 billion impact on the North Texas economy and create 77,000 new jobs during the next 15 years. Currently, DFW has more than 2.6 million square feet of cargo facilities.

Among the city's seven Tax Increment Finance Districts (TIFs) is the City Center TIF at the historic center of downtown Dallas. With a budget of nearly $62 million, City Center TIF projects focus on streetscaping, lighting, acquisition and restoration of historic buildings, façade improvements, and others. Due in part to the TIF program, the City Center TIF area has brought about more than 1,300 already-built or in-planning residential units; more than 2,300 planned or completed hotel rooms; and more than 300,000 square feet of retail space. Another Tax Increment Finance District, the Sports Arena TIF contains about 65 acres of land surrounding the American Airlines Center. Funds to the tune of nearly $26 million will be used mainly for roadway improvements and future development of entertainment and retail space, residential units, and office space.

Commercial Shipping

A major mid-continent gateway to the world, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's international cargo shipments have more than tripled in the last 10 years, reaching 244,515 metric tons in 2004, a nearly 28 percent increase over 2003. In addition to its excellent airport services, interstate highways, and railroad connections, Dallas maintains its edge as a leading distribution center of the Southwest with a healthy trucking industry whose carriers offer direct service to major points in the United States.

Labor Force and Employment Outlook

Dallas' job market is primed to grow slightly faster than the nation in 2005. The expansion of the professional and business sector and the leisure and hospitality services sector is aiding the state's improving economy, along with solid growth in health and educational services. Additionally, the construction and transportation sectors are reporting accelerating year-over-year job growth, while the economic drag from the ailing manufacturing and information sectors is diminishing. Professionals are moving back to the urban center to take advantage of the educational and health care opportunities as well as professional business services that Dallas provides. Many of these new residents were enticed to relocate by the expanding leisure and hospitality industry, which has finally seen a revival since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This influx of new residents provides the metro area with an abundant labor supply and increased prospects for local lenders. The Dallas area enters the twenty-first century experiencing some of the highest economic expansion in the nation. Dallas' entrepreneurial spirit and pro-business atmosphere paved the way for the city to be named "the best city in North America for business" twice by Fortune magazine. The Sprint Business Survey called Dallas the most productive area in the U.S., based on its vibrant economic climate and its fast-growing industries in technology, communications, professional services, banking and financial services.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Dallas metropolitan area labor force, 2003 annual averages.

Size of nonagricultural labor force: 1,901,600

Number of workers employed in . . .

construction and mining: 104,900

manufacturing: 200,000

trade, transportation and utilities: 410,500

information: 80,600

financial activities: 168,100

professional and business services: 269,000

educational and health services: 188,400

leisure and hospitality: 170,300

other services: 73,400

government: 236,400

Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $13.50

Unemployment rate: 5.5% (December 2004)

Largest employers

Number of employees

AMR (American Airlines)

26,700

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

19,200

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.

15,500

SBC Communications, Inc.

14,100

Verizon Communications, Inc.

13,000

Baylor Health Care System

12,600

Brinker International Inc.

12,000

Citigroup, Inc.

9,400

Electronic Data Systems Corp.

9,000

Raytheon

8,000

Bank of America Corp.

7,700

Parkland Health and Hospital System

7,350

TXU Corporation

7,000

Southwest Airlines Co.

6,200

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

5,950

United Parcel Service, Inc.

5,550

Delta Airlines

5,000

FedEx Corp.

4,050

Cost of Living

The following is a summary of several key cost of living factors for the Dallas area.

Dallas

DALLAS

DALLAS is the second-largest municipality in Texas (2000 population 1,188,580), though the Dallas–Fort Worth "Metroplex" is the state's largest urban area.

The city was established in 1841 as a trading post near an easy crossing of the Trinity River, as the Republic of Texas was encouraging settlers to populate the area. After Texas joined the Union in 1845, Dallas was named the county seat. A nearby French utopian settlement called La Réunion founded in 1855 disbanded within a few years, but some of the colony's tradesmen and artisans settled in Dallas, distinguishing the young town (incorporated in 1856) from similar agricultural trade centers across North Texas.

Some pioneer settlers had been recruited from Ohio and the Old Northwest, but many more came from the American South. City residents voted heavily in favor of state secession in 1861, and the city became a commissary post for the Confederate army.

A subsidy of cash and land persuaded the Houston and Texas Central Railroad to divert its planned north-south route through the town in 1872. The Texas and Pacific line from St. Louis made the town a rail crossroads the next year, and, more importantly, the railroad ended there for four years before being extended to Fort Worth. By that time, merchants and industrial concerns had established Dallas as the regional capital. By 1890, it was the largest city in Texas, with 38,000 residents.

As the plantation system declined in the Old South, the rich blackland prairie surrounding Dallas became the nation's premier cotton-growing region, and Dallas the market center for this commodity. The city was designated in 1914 for a Federal Reserve Bank. Discovery of oil in nearby East Texas in 1930 spurred further growth, and the willingness of Dallas banks to lend money secured by oilfield reserves made the city the financial capital of the region. Petroleum companies established their headquarters in Dallas, though no oil is produced in the metropolitan area. Dallas also achieved a reputation as a fashion center, home of the Neiman Marcus department store.

The growing city absorbed several adjacent municipalities, most notably (in 1903) Oak Cliff, across the Trinity River. A mayor-commission form of government was adopted in 1907, and for decades that system's apolitical efficiency was prized by civic leaders. A 1911 city plan calling for river levees, new bridges, parks, and boulevards was largely accomplished after a 1920 update, testimony to civic aspirations. Making the Trinity River navigable has been discussed from the city's founding to the present day, but only a few boats have ever managed to reach the city. Instead, the river became notorious for springtime floods. A huge inundation in 1908 prompted construction of levees, completed in 1931, to protect the business district.

The city's business community cemented its booster reputation by having Dallas—a city that hadn't even existed during the Texas Revolution—chosen for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition. The Art Deco exposition buildings built at Fair Park remain as the site of the annual State Fair, and expositions and trade shows became an

important part of the economy, with the Dallas Market Center eventually becoming the world's largest wholesale merchandise mart. Having organized to build the Centennial Exposition, city business leaders came to dominate local politics. Unions were strongly discouraged as the city became more industrial, and for sixty years the city's mayors were in practice selected by the downtown business establishment's Citizen Charter Association.

World War II defense plants brought the aviation industry to the area, and manufacturing employment grew rapidly in postwar decades. Apparel firms were attracted by the nonunion labor force, and the city also became a major headquarters center for insurance firms. Electronics firms such as Texas Instruments prospered in the 1970s and 1980s, spawning and attracting other high-tech firms. A bold move to create a huge regional airport (opened in 1974) between Dallas and Fort Worth paid off, attracting both distribution facilities and corporate headquarters to the region.

The city's reputation for conservatism became the subject of much civic soul-searching in the wake of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination in downtown Dallas. Racial integration of downtown stores and public facilities was accomplished quietly in the 1960s, but forced busing for school integration spurred white flight from Dallas into adjacent suburbs in the 1970s. Forced to adopt single-member districts, the city council became more demographically representative in the 1970s and 1980s, but also more confrontational, highlighting disparities between well-off, booming North Dallas and the poorer underdeveloped areas of South and West Dallas.

Office and retail development followed the suburban dispersion, diminishing downtown Dallas's role as the region's hub. In the 1990s, a light-rail system centered on downtown Dallas opened with hopes that it could refocus regional patterns. Areas near downtown have recently attracted new residential projects while the West End entertainment area and Arts Center ensure downtown's place as the region's cultural center.

Dallas: History

Bryan Designs Town

Since its pioneer days, Dallas has grown from a fledgling frontier trading post to a bustling city of more than one million people. Dallas was founded in 1841 when a bachelor lawyer from Tennessee, John Neely Bryan, settled on a small bluff above the Trinity River to open a trading post and lay claim to free land. The area, where three forks of the river merge, was part of a large government land grant, Peters Colony. Bryan decided the location was ideal for a town. He quickly sketched a plan, designating a courthouse square and 20 streets around it. He planned for his settlement to become the northernmost port on the river, which stretched to the Gulf of Mexico, but the unpredictable, too-shallow Trinity thwarted efforts at navigation.

Without a navigable river, an ocean harbor or plentiful natural resources, Dallas had little reason to thrive. Fortunately, Bryan's town was close to a shallow spot in the river often used by Native Americans and early traders as a natural crossing, and the Republic of Texas was already surveying two "national highways," both of which were to pass nearby. As a result, farmers, tradesmen, and artisans were attracted to the small community.

In 1849 Dallas County was created and named after George Mifflin Dallas, supporter of the annexation of Texas and vice president of the United States under James Knox Polk. The city of Dallas is thought to be named after either the vice president or his brother, Alexander James Dallas, a commander of the U.S. Navy's Gulf of Mexico squadron.

Railroad spurs Growth

Although the Civil War never actually reached Dallas, its effect on the town was significant. Dallas became a food-producing and Texas recruitment center for the Confederacy. In 1872, when the railroad line from Houston reached Dallas, the town claimed 3,000 inhabitants, and in 1873, the east-west line of the Texas & Pacific Railroad was completed through Dallas, making it the first railroad crossing town in the state. The railroads made Dallas a major distribution center and the home of merchants, bankers, insurance companies, and developers. By 1890, Dallas was the largest city in Texas, with a population of more than 38,000 people.

Economy Forms Around Oil

In 1920, the Trinity River, a source of some early central city flooding, was re-channeled westward as part of an ambitious construction project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Farming gained importance in the early twentieth century and Dallas was the largest cotton trading center in the nation. The city's position as a regional financial center was enhanced when a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank opened in 1914. Dallas attracted oil company headquarters, partly because Dallas banks were willing to finance exploration and production. Manufacturing arrived as companies were formed to produce supplies for the petroleum industry and, later, for the defense effort in World War II.

City Experiences Tragedies

No city is without its share of fires (Dallas' worst destroyed most of its business district in 1860), floods, other tragedies, and infamous citizens. The notorious thieves Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were Depression-era Dallas residents who captured the imagination and property of a large segment of the American public before their deaths in 1934. But Dallas' greatest trauma came on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in a cavalcade through the Dallas streets. Harsh world attention was focused on the city and its leaders. As a result, Goals for Dallas, a private planning program that helped promote a climate of involvement, openness, and sensitivity, was formed.

Recent Economic Patterns

While much of the nation suffered an economic recession during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dallas enjoyed unprecedented growth. As northern factories were idled, a rush to the "Sun Belt" created new businesses, industry, and jobs in Dallas. The downtown skyline changed rapidly as construction boomed. In 1984 Dallas was the site of the Republican National Convention, and many saw the occasion as a chance for the city to erase some lingering negative memories in the minds of the American public. In the 1980s Dallas witnessed a real estate bust that drove prices so low that in time many thriving businesses began to move in and take advantage of the bargain real estate. By 1990 Dallas ranked first in the country for the number of its new or expanded corporate facilities.

In the mid-1990s Dallas ranked as Texas' second largest city, next to Houston, and the eighth largest in the United States. Closing in on the twenty-first century, the city continued to thrive with a healthy and diversified economy and ranked high in the nation in convention activity, as an insurance and oil industry center, in concentration of corporate headquarters, in manufacturing, and in electronics and other high-technology industries.

After national economic downturns in the early part of the new century, Texas is primed for growth. Abundant job growth in many business sectors, coupled with a rapidly-growing population and a healthy economy, mean Dallas is poised for a bright future.

Dallas: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

The Dallas Independent School District is the 12th largest school district in the nation, covering 351 square miles and 11 municipalities. Its commitment to student success and a progressive learning environment is reflected in a challenging core curriculum and special programs, such as career education, character education, advanced placement, talented and gifted, science and engineering, fine arts, and multilingual and multicultural enrichment.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Dallas Public Schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.

Total enrollment: 161,000

Number of facilities elementary schools: 157 (including charter, magnet, and special programs)

junior high/middle schools: 27 (grades 7-8)

senior high schools: 21

other: 14 (7 magnet high schools and 7 alternative programs)

Student/teacher ratio: 23:1

Teacher salaries

minimum: $38,500

maximum: $63,828

Funding per pupil: $7,178

More than 140 accredited private schools, both secular and parochial, are located in the Dallas area.

Colleges and Universities

The Dallas County Community College District educates almost 80,000 credit and non-credit students and operates seven campuses in Dallas County, each offering two-year programs in a variety of fields. Southern Methodist University in Dallas is a private school with undergraduate and graduate degree programs and an enrollment of 10,000. Other Dallas colleges include the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center educating 3,520 students annually; Dallas Christian College, offering biblical and theological study; Louise Herrington School of Nursing of Baylor University; Baylor College of Dentistry; Other institutions offering biblical or religious studies or programs from a religious perspective include The Criswell College, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas Baptist University, Paul Quinn College, and the University of Dallas.

The University of Texas at Dallas is located in Richardson and consists of seven schools, which educate 14,000 students annually. In 2004 the university broke ground on an $85 million Natural Science and Engineering Research Building. The new building is part of the university's 25-year master plan, which proposes a host of new buildings on its growing campus. In downtown Dallas a unique consortium of educational institutions exists in a former department store building on Main Street. The Universities Center at Dallas is operated by the Federation of North Texas Area Universities and offers undergraduate and graduate courses by seven partner institutions including Midwestern State University, Texas A&M University–Commerce, Texas Woman's University, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas, and Dallas County Community College District.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Dallas Public Library system consists of a central library and 22 branch libraries. The system has nearly 2.6 million volumes and serials and a large collection of government documents. The library also maintains a historical section that contains an extensive collection of books, letters, and historical documents of Texas, Dallas, and Dallas black history. The Dallas Public Library in Downtown Dallas has one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed on July 4, 1776 and William Shakespeare's First Folio of Comedies, Histories' Tragedies on permanent display at the library. The library's Children's Center is one of the largest in the country. Southern Methodist University's library has more than 2.5 million volumes, with special collections on Western Americana and Texana. Most of the other area universities and colleges also operate their own libraries.

Dallas has nearly 60 research centers, many affiliated with local colleges, universities, and hospitals. For example, at Baylor University, research is carried out on hair and treatment, bone marrow transplantation, biomedicine, and sports science. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas conducts more than 2,000 research projects each year at a cost of more than $330 million. Eight of the nine Texas medical members of the National Academy of Sciences, three recent Nobel Laureates, and thirteen of the most-cited scientists in the world, are on faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology conducts interdisciplinary projects with a focus on cures for disease and enhancing health and quality of life.

Dallas

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

Dallas, city (1990 pop. 1,006,877), seat of Dallas co., N Tex., on the Trinity River near the junction of its three forks; inc. 1871. The second largest Texas city, after Houston, and the eighth largest U.S. city, Dallas is a commercial, industrial, and financial center. Its manufactures include aerospace and electronic equipment, cosmetics, textiles, chemicals, and leather goods, as well as aircraft, automobiles, and other transportation equipment. The Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area (known as the Metroplex) is a leader in high-technology industries—its computer manufactures have given the area the nickname
"Silicon Prairie"
— and receives many defense contracts. Oil is refined, and there are meatpacking plants. Its banks and insurance company headquarters make Dallas the Southwest's center for those industries. Publishing and printing are also important. The Dallas–Fort Worth airport is one of the busiest in the nation; regional airlines continue to use Love Field.

Founded c.1841, Dallas was early populated by French artisans and gentlemen who abandoned a nearby Fourierist community, La Réunion. The city was named in 1846 after Vice President George M. Dallas. Developing as a cotton market in the 1870s, Dallas later became known as a center for retail stores, including Neiman-Marcus Co., which was founded in 1907. The oil industry boomed in the 1930s; aircraft production in the 1940s. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Rapid metropolitan-area growth in the 1980s was evidenced by construction of postmodern office buildings that dramatically changed the city's skyline. North Dallas, sprawling, affluent, and almost entirely white, continues to expand.

Southern Methodist Univ., a branch of the Univ. of Texas, the Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, a theological seminary, and Texas A&M Univ.'s Baylor College of Dentistry are in the Dallas area. A fashion center, the city is also known for its museums (e.g., Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Perot Museum of Science and Nature), and for its interest in music, literature, and drama (the Dallas Theatre Center boasts the only public theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). In the 1980s, Dallas helped revitalize its downtown through the creation of an
"arts district,"
which includes the Dallas Museum of Art (1984) and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (1989). The Texas State Fair and the annual Cotton Bowl football game are held in the art deco Fair Park. The city is home to the Mavericks (basketball) and Stars (hockey); the Cowboys (football, in Arlington) and Texas Rangers (baseball, in Arlington) play in nearby suburbs.

Dallas: Communications

Newspapers and Magazines

Dallas is served by one daily newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, and by the weeklies Dallas Observer and DallasBusiness Journal. Residents are able to subscribe to a variety of suburban and neighborhood papers, and numerous magazines, such as D Magazine.

Television and Radio

Dallas-area residents are entertained and informed by 9 commercial and public television stations. Other stations are available through cable subscription. Dallas PBS station, KERA, is the most watched public television station in the nation. The 19 radio stations serving Dallas broadcast a variety of program formats, including all-news and country, rock, and classical music.

The Dallas Communications Complex, a multimillion-dollar film production center developed by Dallas real estate magnate Trammell Crow, includes a 15,000-square-foot soundstage and has been the site for the filming of several major motion pictures and television specials. The Dallas-Fort Worth Teleport is a full-service satellite communications facility specializing in broadcast quality video transmission.

Dallas: Health Care

The Dallas area has an extensive network of public and private hospitals, including six major hospital systems with more than 13,000 beds.

Parkland Memorial Hospital, a public hospital operated by the Dallas County Hospital District, is the major trauma center for North Texas and the principal teaching hospital for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Parkland, considered among the top 25 hospitals in the country, offers specialized care in its pediatric trauma and burn centers.

Baylor Health Care System's University Medical Center at Dallas—consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best hospitals in the United States—offers many areas of specialty. The Kimberly H. Courtwright and Joseph W. Summers Institute of Metabolic Disease at the center provides comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services to children and adults suffering from metabolic diseases. Baylor Dallas has several specialty centers that focus on diabetes: The Ruth Collins Diabetes Center, The Professional Diabetes Educator Program, and the Louise Gartner Center for Hyperbaric Medicine.

The Dallas Craniofacial Center at Medical City Children's Hospital is one of the world's leading medical centers for treatment of children with craniofacial birth defects and facial trauma. A member of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, The Center for Epilepsy at Medical City treats adult and pediatric patients with complex neurological disorders. Methodist Dallas Transplant Institute is one of the largest and most active transplant centers in the southwestern United States.

Other major medical facilities in Dallas include Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Paul Medical Center, and other facilities that specialize in psychiatric, orthopedic, or mental health.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

Dallas: Transportation

Approaching the City

Most visitors to Dallas arrive via the Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport, located approximately 17 miles from the downtown areas of both cities and is served by 22 airlines. DFW is four hours or less by air from nearly every major North American market, with direct service to more than 165 nonstop destinations worldwide. Current construction at the airport includes a new international terminal and high-speed train scheduled to open in summer 2005. Future development is planned to keep up with national expectations of air travel increases by 2010.

Prior to construction of DFW Airport, Dallas' principal airfield was the city-owned Love Field. Today it is both a general aviation and commercial air facility with Southwest Airlines serving other Texas cities and adjacent states. Love Field is conveniently close to Dallas' central business district. Redbird Airport and many smaller municipal airports serve the Metroplex.

The Dallas area is served by four major highways: Interstate 20 (east-west); I-35 E (north-south); I-30 (northeast-west); and I-45 (south). All Dallas highways are connected by a twelve-lane loop—LBJ Freeway (I-635)—that encircles the city. Loop 12 is situated primarily within the city limits of Dallas. A third loop circles the Dallas central business district. Amtrak operates an intercity passenger line.

Dallas: Convention Facilities

Dallas ranks among the top cities in the nation in convention and meeting attendees, with more than 3.8 million people attending more than 3,600 conventions and spending more than $4.2 billion annually. With more than 65,000 hotel rooms available in a variety of hotels throughout the city, the Dallas metro area is the top visitor destination in the state. The city's convenient location in the central United States makes Dallas no more than a three-hour flight from either coast. And Dallas' outstanding airport facilities make coming and going even easier. Major hotels with meeting facilities include the Adam's Mark, Wyndham Anatole, the Adolphus, the Doubletree Hotel, the Hyatt Regency, the Dallas Hilton, and the Fairmont Hotel.

Visitors to Dallas have available to them other fine convention facilities. The Dallas Convention Center, one of the country's largest, offers more than one million square feet of exhibit space, with 203,000 square feet in its column-free exhibit hall, which is the largest in the U.S.; a 9,816 seat arena, a 1770-seat theater, 105 meeting rooms, and 2 ballrooms. The center underwent its most recent expansion in 2002.

Dallas: Geography and Climate

Dallas is located in north-central Texas, 70 miles south of the Oklahoma border, 174 miles west of Louisiana, and approximately 250 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. The city is situated on the rolling plains near the headwaters of the Trinity River in an area known as the black-land prairies, midway between the Piney Woods of east Texas and the Great Plains. The general area has an unusual concentration of man-made lakes. Its climate is humid and subtropical, characterized by hot summers and mild winters, with snowfall rare. Within a 100-mile radius of the city, there are more than 60 lakes and over 50,000 acres of public parkland. The rainy season occurs in April and May; July and August are the driest summer months.

Dallas: Introduction

Nestled in the rolling prairies of north-central Texas, Dallas is a sophisticated, bustling metropolis that has earned its reputation in the marketplace of the world. Dallas is separated from its Fort Worth neighbor by less than 30 miles, leading many to link the two cities and their surrounding suburbs in the term "Metroplex," but each retains a distinctive identity. Basking in the glow of the nation's Sun Belt, Dallas has attracted people and businesses from colder regions for a number of years. The steady influx has caused Dallas to grow in size and importance, resulting in its status as a leader in culture, industry, fashion, transportation, finance, and commerce. The Dallas/Fort Worth area is the country's ninth most populated metropolitan area; with its continuous population growth, by 2010 it is expected to rank fourth.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

Dallas: Municipal Government

Dallas is the third largest city in the country with the council-manager form of government. Citizens adopted this form of municipal government in 1931. The system divides responsibility between a policy-making council and the administration of a city manager. The Dallas City Council is comprised of 15 members elected by voters in non-partisan elections. Fourteen are elected from single-member districts, while the mayor is elected at-large.

Dallas

Dallas City in neTexas, USA. First settled in the 1840s, Dallas expanded with the 20th-century development of its oilfields. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated here on November 22, 1963. A leading commercial and transport centre of sw USA, it has many educational and cultural institutions. Industries: oil refining, electronic equipment, clothing, aircraft. Pop. (2000) 1,188,580.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.